High power turbo-machinery can generate substantial load requirements for axial thrust bearings. These load requirements are especially high in fanless stationary aero-derivative engines and in gas turbine engines which typically use compressor bleed gas to push against a thrust piston and thus offload a mechanical rolling element thrust bearing. The compressor bleed gas approach is subject to large variations in leakage which cannot be actively controlled and produce a substantial reduction in operating efficiency. Gas turbine engines can generate bi-directional thrust with a large maximum aft thrust force generated during steady state operation and a smaller forward transient thrust force generated during shutdown. The maximum aft thrust force generated by a gas-turbine can exceed the transient load capability of a mechanical thrust bearing.